The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has decried cases of political violence involving removing of campaign materials and use of slurs by political parties during the ongoing official political campaigns in different parts of the Country.
Commissioner Bishop Mary Nkosi said this in an interview at Katoto Secondary School in Mzuzu on Saturday where she presided over the opening of a training of polling equipment operators.
The Commissioner was reacting to the recent political violence incidences in Mzuzu where a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) billboard was torn down and United Transformation Movement (UTM) flags were removed.
Said Commissioner Nkosi: “We have always spoken and encouraged the stakeholders, the political leaders that they should always encourage their members not to indulge in violence we want peaceful elections, violence cannot build Malawi but only destroy the future of Malawi.
“But as MEC we are saying let there be peace in every campaign meeting, let there be peace in every speech. There should be no hate speech, no violence not even inciting the youth to create violence.”
Various electoral stakeholders including the faith community, political party candidates and the civil society have strongly condemned the pockets of electoral violence recorded across the country.
In a Pastoral Letter issued Sunday by the Nkhoma Synod of the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP), the faith leaders urged all political parties and candidates to shun from all forms of political intolerance.
“Political parties and candidates should know that Malawians are not going to be intimidated as political violence has no place in our nascent democracy. We encourage all Malawians to refrain from this act or behaviour and also to take notice of those perpetrators,” reads part of the Pastoral Letter.
Malawi has been hailed across the region for holding peaceful elections in the past.
MEC has said that it is optimistic that the May 21 Tripartite Elections will serve to continue the legacy of Malawi’s record of peaceful elections.
